SHELLFISH CULTURE IN FRANCE: PRESENT STATUS AND NEW APPROACHES TO OPTIMISE PRODUCTION

France is presently one of the leading countries in Europe for shellfish production with 152,000 metric tonnes of the Pacific cupped oyster C. gigas, 2,500 tonnes of flat oyster O. edulis, and more than 60,000 tonnes of mussels M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis. Moreover, species like the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera in French Polynesia, and on the Atlantic coastline the scallop Pecten maximus and the Manila clam Tapes philippinarum contribute significantly to the overall landings. . Since traditional rearing areas are now almost overloaded, new management practices are currently under review to optimise and develop shellfish culture. Besides the products resulting from genetic research (e.g. triploids, tetraploids and disease resistant strains), zootechnical approaches have been developed: semi intensive and intensive techniques in oyster ponds, longlines to sustain mussel spat recruitment and production. At the ecosystem level, the need for potential new shellfish areas as weIl as increasing pressure for integrated coastal management plans prompted researchers to use GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to facilitate decision making. Several cases will be presented concerning deep water oyster culture experimentation and constraints related to the extension of mussel longlines field.